Sebastian Vettel sets practice pace

In a crucial race for drivers attempting to close the gap on Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, it looks as though they will have a tough job with the increasing pace of the Red Bull driver.

After only managing fourth in P1, it looked like Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen had a chance this weekend, but that chance is becoming slimmer. The blistering pace of Red Bull shows that previous problems with circuits like Monza seems to have been solved and they may finally have fixed their low-downforce issue.

Vettel's fastest lap was a full six-tenths ahead of teammate Mark Webber, although Webber's impressive showing meant Red Bull secured their third consecutive 1-2 in P2. Vettel secured the top spot with a 1:24.453.

Around the five kilometre track, Webber was only two-tenths quicker than sixth placed Lewis Hamilton, spicing up the podium positions for Sunday's race.

Despite Vettel's phenomenal speed, he surprised many with a recent anxious interview in which he told Sky Sports F1: "I'm sure it will be very tight. I think it will be close tomorrow in qualifying with many cars within a few hundredths.

"We will have to work, we have two or three things we have to find a step on. Even though the car was great, there were still two or three corners where the car was sliding."

Former teammates Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were separated by merely one hundredth of a second in fifth and sixth, but both will be surprised by the nine-tenth deficit to reigning champion Vettel.

Mercedes and Ferrari still have a lot of work to do after losing pace not only to Red Bull, but also to the Lotus' of Romain Grosjean and championship contender Kimi Raikkonen.

Anything can happen come Sunday's race, Vettel may not have the pace and maybe someone unexpected will burst through the field. But what we do know for sure is that it will be another exciting F1 weekend.

DISCLAIMER: This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article. GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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DISCLAIMER

This article has been written by a member of the GiveMeSport Writing Academy and does not represent the views of
GiveMeSport.com or SportsNewMedia. The views and opinions expressed are solely that of the author credited at the top of this article.
GiveMeSport.com and SportsNewMedia do not take any responsibility for the content of its contributors.

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